Job Posting: Museum Association AssistantDuration: Full time until March 31st 2016
The Museum Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (MANL) is a not for profit, registered charitable organization that supports our membership and museums throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
Job Description
The Museum Association Assistant will work with the Executive Director in reviewing the organizational records of the Museum Association. The Assistant will be responsible for reviewing membership information and updating it on the MANL website. The Museum Association Assistant will also assist with planning, organizing and delivering our Annual General Meeting and training programs. The person reports to the Executive Director and works with committees of the Association to fulfill the goals of the Association.
The areas of responsibility include but are not limited to:
• Digitizing of records of the Association • Establish and maintain information related to members • Reviewing organization documents for retention • Assist in the development of membership database • Reevaluation and organization of reference library • Produce a regular newsletter and maintain the Association’s website • Assist with Annual General Meeting and training programs • Support the Board of Directors and committees of the Association, special projects and meetings as required • Some travel required must have a valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle • Other related duties as required.
Qualifications
The successful candidate will have demonstrated relevant experience. Must meet the criteria for the Graduate Employment Program, having graduated from a post-secondary program within the past two years. Must have experience with Microsoft Office programs such as Word and Excel; and possess excellent communications and organization skills. Knowledge of the museums, records management, light bookkeeping archives and heritage sector would be an asset. Completion of MANL and ANLA training would be an asset. The successful applicant must demonstrate the ability to work with others in an office environment. The successful candidate must present a certificate of conduct upon request.
Deadline for applications:
June11th, 2015, 3:00 pm
Applications may be forwarded by email only to: kflynn@nf.aibn.com
MANL thanks all applicants for their interest; however only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Hi everyone this is Terra again. I just wanted to introduce you to my main project this summer with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador: "The Memory Store". The research for the Memory Store includes doing short video clips with people about the stories surrounding historic places. This means part of my summer job is checking out historic sites in and around St. John’s and listening to the stories about them. The video clips of these stories are part of the Memory Store which is a virtual spot where we can find stories about local places.
The Memory Store is part of the HFNL’s goal to foster a greater appreciation of historic places, by making the stories about these sites more accessible to the general public. The HFNL is working to document the architectural history and the associated stories of Newfoundland and Labrador’s historic places, in and around the St. John’s region. This research project will form part of a permanent collection with Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Digital Archives Initiative.
The following videos are the first in the series which will be posted every second Wednesday. In the first video folklorist and ICH development officer, Dale Jarvis, explains the idea behind the memory store. While in the second Gary Green, past president of the Crow’s Nest Officer Club, tells the story of the second fire escape in the Crow’s Nest placed there during the Second World War. Garry says although the first escape may look like nautical decoration it was put in place as a functional fire escape. Make sure to check out this link to learn more about the Crow's Nest Officer's Club as a historic site!
Stay tuned for more short stories about historic places in the province, in the form of short oral history interviews conducted with the people who care about those places and if you have a personal memory about a historic place in Newfoundland and Labrador, and want to add your voice to the Memory Store project, let us know at ich@heritagefoundation.ca, terra@heritagefoundation.ca or 739-1892 ex. 5.
ICH development officer and members of the Witless Bay heritage committee.
Left to right: Peter, Kevin, Dale, Bonnie, Mary.
This morning Dale and I drove out to beautiful Witless Bay
on the Southern Shore to meet with several members of the heritage
committee. In a couple of weeks time on
June 23rd the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador and
the Witless Bay heritage committee are partnering with Memorial University for the
second year to do a cemetery clean up as part of MUN’s Make Midterm Matter. This year students from MUN will have the
opportunity to spend the day out of the classroom and in the graveyard engaging
with the community while gaining volunteer experience.
View from the Witless Bay cemetery.
Cemeteries are an interesting part of our past with many stories to tell,
however, older cemeteries are often forgotten and fall into disrepair. Taking care of cemeteries in this province is
difficult with a climate which is rough on the gravestones. However, looking after these gravestones is
important as they often offer information which is not found elsewhere. In order to show the students some of the
information which can be learned from the graves we will be doing a couple of gravestone
rubbings. Dale will also discuss the
significance of the gravestone symbols and how reading these symbols can give
us information about the people who are buried in the graveyard.
Several symbols are displayed on this gravestone in the cemetery.
A cross, an anchor, a harp, a plant and a sacred heart.
The students will be working together to clear brush, mow grass, paint and fix
fences, clear garbage and generally tend to the cemetery grounds. The Witless Bay heritage committee is looking
to restore the graveyard to its former glory and any and all volunteers are
welcome. If you are interested in
volunteering and wondering how you can become involved send me an email at terra@heritagefoundation.ca
Saving Our Stories - An Introduction to Community Oral History with folklorist Dale Jarvis.
A free workshop organized by the Sir William F Coaker Heritage Foundation, Champney's West Heritage Group, and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. This workshop is open to anyone with an interest in local history, culture and folklore. It is intended to give a background on how to conduct research interviews, and will give people a chance to try their hand at creating interview questions and to explore the world of oral history! It is free to attend, but you need to register in advance.
Saturday, June 13th, 2015, 1:00pm - 4:00pm Factory/Advocate Building, Port Union, NL
Thursday, June 11th, 2015 7pm – 9 pm Recreation Hall, Jack’s Hill Champney’s West
This June, residents of Champney’s West will start to map out what their heritage means to them, with a little help from folklorist Dale Jarvis.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, our living heritage is rich and diverse. It includes ballad singing, snowshoe-making, accordion playing, knitting, Christmas mummering, berry picking, boat building, and much more. We tell stories, make clothes, shear sheep, and spin yarn. We have a complex knowledge of place, the seasons, and the movements and patterns of animals from moose to cod fish. If we lose these important parts of our living heritage (what we call Intangible Cultural Heritage or ICH), we will also lose important resources that can keep our communities going culturally, economically and socially. But where do we start?
Communities decide which traditions are important to document. Sometimes these traditions are threatened; sometimes particular elders or tradition-bearers will be highlighted. Other communities may record important traditions of everyday life. One first step is "asset mapping" - the process of collecting, recording, and analyzing local information in order to describe the cultural resources, networks, links and patterns of the community. Cultural asset mapping provides an inventory of key cultural resources that can be utilized for future development in the community.
Dale Jarvis, the ICH Development Officer with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, will be leading a community conversation about historic places, trails, old stories, place names, traditions, and local knowledge. Come for a cup of tea, and tell us what matters to you in Champney’s West. It will be a free and fun community workshop, sponsored by the Champney's West Heritage Group Inc.
Children Playing Circle Games VA 93-50 International Grenfell Association photograph collection Photo: Courtesy of The Rooms
While researching children’s ring games last week I came across a game which I had never heard before. The game “Sailing in the Boat (Ship) Till the Tide Runs High” is found in three sources on Memorial University’s DAI. It is first found in a fictional short story written in 1950 and published in the Atlantic Guardian in which the youth of the community Come Again Harbour play a ring game to the tune: Sailing in the ship ‘til the tide runs high,
Waiting for the pretty girls to come by and by, […] Choose your partner now today,
Give her a kiss and send her on her way. The other two sources mention the game being played in a community hall in Lumsden and the song being sung at the third annual Newfoundland picnic in Lynwood City Park, California in 1956.
I did a quick google search to see what I could come up with and I came across a couple of references to the ring game with more complete versions of the song. The following version is from Otto Tucker and is found in Newfoundland author Robin McGrath’s book All In Together:Sailing in the boat ’til the tide runs high, Sailing in the boat ’til the collar flags fly, Sailing in the boat ’til the tide runs high, Waiting for the pretty girls to come by and by. Choose your partner now today, Choose, oh choose her right away, I don’t care what the old folks say. Oh what a horrible choice you’ve made, And she can no longer stay. Since she can no longer stay, Give her a kiss and send her away.
There are a number of versions with different lyrics. Here is William Wells Newell’s version from his book Games and Songs of American Children: Sailing in the boat when the tide runs high,[x3]
Waiting for the pretty girl to come by'm by.
Here she comes, so fresh and fair,
Sky-blue eyes and curly hair,
Rosy in cheek, dimple in her chin,
Say, young man, but you can't come in.
Rose in the garden for you young, man,[x2]
Rose in the garden, get it if you can,
But take care not a frost-bitten one.
Choose your partner, stay till day, [x3]
And don't never mind what the old folks say!
Old folks say 'tis the very best way, [x3]
To court all night and sleep all day.
Folklorist Emelyn E. Gardner references the following version from the Michigan area in her article Some Play-party Games in Michigan written in 1920:
Sailing in the boat when the tide runs high, [x3]
Waiting for a pretty girl to come by and by.
Oars in the boat, and it won't go round [x3]
Till you kiss the pretty girl that you just found.
Do you have memory of this song? Have you ever played the game yourself? Which version did you sing? Let us know where you are from, what song you sung or game you played. Send an email to terra@heritagefoundation.ca.
I’ll leave you with the following YouTube clip I found of “Sailing in the Boat” sung by Elizabeth Austin and a group of women in Old Bight, Cat Island, Bahamas recorded by Alan Lomax and Mary Barnicle in 1935.
It has been a while since we've posted a folklore photo. So today I posted a picture taken a couple of years ago at my pop's cabin. I had a hard time finding a photo which related to Newfoundland weather lore although I came across lots of sources about Newfoundland weather on the DAI.
Last week's snow and everyone's complaints about St. John's having snow in May made me think of the folk belief that May snow had special properties. Both folklorist Dale Jarvis and archivist Larry Dohey have written about it in their blogs. You can click here for Dale's post and here for Larry's for more information.
Today I figured I would ask the question: What beliefs do you know about the weather?
I posted the picture of the sunset with the red sky because as a child I always heard the rhyme:
Red sky at night,
Sailor's delight,
Red sky in morning,
Sailor's take warning.
What are some of the other ways to foretell the weather? Do you know any other warnings?
I've always heard of galing cats predicting a storm. Do you know any other animals who can predict the weather?
EDIT: Here are two beliefs sent in by Berk Reynolds originally from Salmon Cove, Conception Bay North: 1. Animals, particularly goats coming home from the hills before a storm in summer (or when you wouldn't expect them)
2. Whatever the prevailing wind direction is at noon on Good Friday so it will be for the summer
The Pasadena Heritage Society – NL is seeking an enthusiastic, outgoing and organized individual to act as a Heritage Assistant to deliver a number of tasks related to preserving and promoting the heritage of the Town of Pasadena.
Location: Town of Pasadena Rate of Pay: $10.25/hour; 35 hours/week (some evening and weekend work required) Duration: 7 weeks
Tasks: Heritage inventory and cataloguing Oral histories including interviewing residents and transcribing for use on website Organize and facilitate heritage awareness activities including a presence at Pasadena Strawberry Days Other duties as assigned
Qualifications: Basic computer skills Ability to work independently Excellent oral and written communication skills An interest in the heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador, and a commitment to its preservation, preferably augmented by courses in Newfoundland and Labrador history, folklore, historical geography, religious history Some background in oral history practice would be an asset
To submit an application, please email your resume and cover letter to pasadenaheritage@outlook.com. All interested applicants are encouraged to apply however preference may be given to post-secondary applicants. Applicants must be residents of Pasadena (or surrounding communities in the Humber Valley) and a current student who is intending to return to studies in September. The incumbent will work out of the Town Hall and will take direction from the Heritage Society board of directors via a work plan. This is a great opportunity to get experience in the heritage sector.
